If you've been on my blog for a while you'll know that I'm very into what we'll call wardrobe theory, for lack of a better term. I tend to ramble on and on, so I'll try to be brief here and just share a few of my go-to tips for managing what's in my wardrobe.
Know what you wear
What we think looks good and what we think looks good on us are often two very different things. Especially in a fashion like lolita, where collectability is a thing and fads come and go, it's easy to end up with items that are desirable and that you like but that you just don't wear.
I wear a lot of casual, comfortable skirts.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with the collector aspect of this subculture, but I'm all for having a wardrobe that you actually can wear. So that means removing pieces that you don't like on yourself for whatever reasons - perhaps it's fit, colour, style or something else. It also means being realistic about the situations you wear lolita for - there's not much point in having five OTT dresses if you only wear a fancy coordinate once a year, but if you wear toned down lolita to your office job owning five Innocent World solid JSKs is probably a very sensible thing.
Figure out why
To aid with the above, when you wear a lolita coordinate think about how each pieces makes you feel, and why.
As an example, recently I've realised I'm very meh towards my handmade green skirt. When I asked myself why I discovered that it was because it's boring to wear. It's nice enough and is comfortable, but it doesn't bring me any excitement. So I'm going to try and wear it in more adventurous coordinates to see if that changes my feelings. If it doesn't then it will probably go into the sales pile...or maybe not, since it's just a simple handmade piece. I may hang on to it as a nice handy "it can get ruined" piece or try to building up more options in my wardrobe that go with it.
Keep a wishlist
Now, I'm not really big into dream dresses (though if you are, great!) so when I say wishlist, I mean more of a needs list. As you refine your wardrobe you will learn to see the gaps in your supporting pieces, and your main pieces too. The more you wear lolita the more you know your coordinating style - for example, I don't wear much jewellery so there's not much point me growing my collection beyond what it is. But I do love boleros and find myself wanting more colours than I have.
Wedding bolero FTW!
This post is a bit incoherent, but I suppose overall my opinion on wardrobe management can be summed up as "be mindful". Learn who you are as a lolita, what influences that, and plan accordingly. It's as easy - and as hard - as that.
Read more from other bloggers:
This is the kind of wardrobe management that most lolitas need to do. Doing this fairly regularly helps avoid having to do big clearouts or organising, which can be quite the dreaded chore once they mount up. But it can be so easy to do it on the go (hello, 'when did I last wear this' spreadsheet) or simply at regular intervals (hello, lolidrobe reassessment posts and wardrobe posts). Or maybe I'm just as much of a wardrobe management geek as you are ^_^"""
ReplyDeleteI think we're both just wardrobe geeks lol. It's half the fun for me, and makes actually wearing lolita so much more enjoyable as well.
Deleteours are very good and great tips to put into practice! I plan the wardrobe too and see exactly the most needed items, because let's be frank, a wish list to buy or even need, after all we already know that we want almost everything hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteI started to realize how I am / how I wanted to be in lolita and this discovery helps a lot in planning!
I will share the post because I found the tip very useful, congratulations on the post: D
Thank you, I'm really glad you found it helpful!
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